Thursday, February 20, 2014

Mayor deBlasio Announced Vision Zero Initiatives This Week

I meant to post on this yesterday. There are a lot of good pieces in there. I particularly like a lot of the taxi-focused initiatives. I've been wondering for years why we taxis don't have automated enforcement. In Manhattan, it often seems that taxis are the clear majority of cars on the streets.

New York City's Vision Zero Action Plan comprises dozens of specific initiatives spread across City Hall, NYPD, Department of Transportation, Taxi and Limousine Commission, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. Those initiatives include:

Increasing Enforcement Against Speeding: The NYPD will increase precinct-level enforcement of speeding violations by adding additional personnel in its Highway Division and ensuring every precinct has access to state-of-the-art speed detection devices.

Developing Borough-Specific Street Safety Plans: The DOT will initiate borough-by-borough planning, in partnership with elected officials, community boards and stakeholders to address dangerous locations in communities across the city. It will target 50 locations per year for extensive redesign.

Redesigning 50 Locations Each Year: The DOT will implement major safety engineering enhancements at 50 intersections and corridors each year, making use of an extensive list of improvements and newly developed options. The designs will make streets easier for everyone to use with improved visibility, safer speeds, and more predictable movements.

Reducing the Citywide Speed Limit from 30 mph to 25 mph: The city will work with the state leaders to reduce New York City's default citywide speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph. The likelihood of a fatal crash declines significantly for speeds below 30 mph.

Expanding the Use of Speed and Red Light Enforcement Cameras: New York City currently has authority to deploy red light cameras at 150 intersections and speed enforcement cameras at 20 locations. But the city must protect more than 6,000 miles of streets. Building on recent success expanding these programs, the city will work with state leaders to authorize wider use of camera enforcement. Since speed enforcement cameras were activated last month, they have issued nearly 4,000 speeding tickets.

Expanding Neighborhood 'Slow Zones': The DOT will work with communities to identify and implement 25 new arterial slow zones and eight new neighborhood slow zones that use signage and traffic calming measures like speed humps to minimize speeding.

Stiffer Penalties on Taxi and Livery Drivers who Drive Dangerously: The Taxi and Limousine Commission will create its own enforcement squad to enforce traffic rules, as well as adopt new rules and work with the City Council on legislation to increase sanctions on drivers engaging in dangerous activity like speeding and failure to yield.

Standing Interagency Vision Zero Task Force: City Hall will continue to convene a Task Force to oversee implementation of the Action Plan and coordinate future efforts.